


Lost and Alone

by sacredsymbol821



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, help me, i'm really bad at tagging i apologize, im also not tagging all the eventual relationships because I'd be here until I'm 30, it's my first longfic!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2019-09-06 02:44:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 15,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16823542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sacredsymbol821/pseuds/sacredsymbol821
Summary: Two people wake up in a field by themselves with very little memory to go on.  Then, they get wrapped up in Chrom and the Shepards war. A retelling of Fire Emblem Awakening.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You remember when I said I'd be busy over November? Yeah, it was because I was sitting down and making this monster of a retelling my Nanowrimo project. For now, however, enjoy the first chapter of it. I hope I did it some justice since I've been brainstorming this retelling of Awakening since I started writing three years ago. Without further ado, enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You remember when I said I'd be busy over November? Yeah, it was because I was sitting down and making this monster of a retelling my Nanowrimo project. For now, however, enjoy the first chapter of it. I hope I did it some justice since I've been brainstorming this retelling of Awakening since I started writing three years ago. Without further ado, enjoy!

He came to on the ground. The first thing he realized was that he somehow had everything on his clothes. His sister was in her cloak, sleeping peacefully next to him. He tried to remember what they were doing before they had gone to sleep the last day, but couldn’t remember. That was bad. His head hurt, and he reached his fingers up to his temples to try and steady himself. They were going...somewhere. For their parents- who’s names were- immediately he drew a blank. That was even worse.

He jerked up then as it got harder to breathe and the world started to go out of focus, as his mind started coming up with scenarios of why he suddenly couldn’t remember much. His name was David, his sister was Naomi and they were going somewhere for...their parents, whose names he still couldn’t remember.

At that moment, Naomi began to stir, and when she woke up she narrowed her eyes at him.

“David?” She asked after an extremely long time.

That scared him even more than not being able to remember everything did, somehow.

“Yeah, I’m here.” He answered.

“What happened? Where are… our parents? Where are we?” She asked.

“I don’t know where our parents are. I don’t even remember what we were doing yesterday.” He answered as calmly as he could, but his voice wavered a little. He was younger than her by about two years- or at least he thought he was. That was what the whispers behind the shadows of the people that were supposed to be his parents were saying, anyway. He didn’t know if he could trust them. He didn’t know if he could trust anything in his head at the moment.

He got up finally, beginning to take stock of the situation in front of them.

They were in a fairly defensible position, at least and had all their weapons and gear. He opened his pack to find still fresh rations, and breathed out a sigh of relief.

Then, he turned back to Naomi, who still didn’t look all there. Immediately, he felt his gut tell him to run from her.

He stared back down at his stomach, wondering what that was about.

“You don’t look so hot.” He managed to say out loud. He sounded cool and steady, and more like himself.

“I don’t feel so hot. My head’s all… warped.” She admitted.

He handed her the first thing he found in his pack, which was a peach that was bruised, but still good. 

“There are no signs of foul play. Neither of us have head injuries. I don’t understand why neither of us can remember anything.” Naomi mused, wiping the peach with her sleeve and taking a bite. 

David sat next to her as she ate it.

“You feeling a little better now?” He inquired after she finished chewing.

“Yeah. Do you know where we are?” She asked him.

He thought she was asking to much, but he took another look around anyway. The trees were orange colored, but the leaves hadn’t started falling yet. He had never seen trees look this way before. Where they lived, before, it was either green, brown, or the yellow of sand.

With a jump to his step now that he had remembered something, he found his bow on the ground and quietly put it on his back before looking for a road.

He found one not too far from where they were. As soon as he saw it, he quickly doubled back to his sister who was staring at the back of the palm of her hand, furrowing her brow at it intently. When she saw him, she immediately put it back under her glove and on her book, but David didn’t think too much of it. 

“I found a road. Maybe we should get to town and get a place to stay, then figure whatever happened to us overnight?”

She nodded at him. She seemed a little paler than usual, but stood up just fine on her own. As they walked, they began to see a little port town grow bigger and bigger.

David was just happy to see the town, and started jogging toward it. Then he remembered his sister and turned back to her. She was lagging way behind, with sweat dripping down her face.

His smile gone, he jogged back towards her.

“Hey...are you doing okay?” He asked. 

“My head...really hurts.” She answered him stiffly. On closer inspection, he could tell that she was also pale.

“Alright. We can rest over there, in that plain. The important thing is that we get to the village in one piece.” He told her patiently.

She simply nodded, and he carefully led her to the plain.

They sat there awhile, until the sun came up in the sky.

“Okay. I think I’m doing better.” She said.

“You sure? Can you stand?” He asked, getting up to help her stand up. She waved him off, smiled as she stood up on her own, then promptly collapsed backwards into the grass. 

At first, he thought she was dead. His fingers found her way to her temple. She was still breathing, but very slowly.

David was many things, but an impromptu proper healer was not one of them. He looked up the road. The market town they were near was close enough that he could get help there.

He had been told all his life he had an aptitude for magic, but it had never surfaced. Still, though, he grabbed his sisters tome that she always carried around with her and glared at it.

“You’d better keep her safe, or I will burn you in the next fireplace I see.” He warned, then got up and started running toward the town as fast as his legs could carry him.

Being almost noon, the marketplace was bustling. 

He took a deep breath. He thought he knew what a healer looked like, but he had barely interacted with them all his life.

He was looking through the crowd trying to figure out how he would find a healer when he spotted one very tired looking brown haired man, followed by a blue haired man and a blonde young lady with a huge smile.

The brown haired man never let the other two from out in front of him. At first, David thought he was a guardian of some sort to them, but then the Blue haired younger man turned around and had a brand on his shoulder that David should have recognized.

The emblem, even though he could not recall it, made him instantly recoil. He was about to reconsider his course of action when a flash of movement caught his eye. A man in a cloak stole the blonde girl’s purse and bolted.

David was running after him faster than he could think, and pushed past several people, who he heard see that he was running after the thief. The thief obviously knew this city, but David was naturally faster than him, and he tackled the other man after blowing by the blonde, blunette, and brunette, before wrestling the coin purse away from the struggling man. Keeping his boot on his wrist so that the other man couldn’t move unless he wanted to break his wrist, David turned toward the trio, who were just catching up with them.

He had a moment to catch his breath, and then he realized that the coin purse in his hand was way heavier than it should have been. He then realized that the sour faced brunette had knight armor on. These people were very rich and high up from wherever they were.

“Here you go, ma’am. Your coin purse.” He said, holding it out to the blonde.

She stared at him for a moment, then giggled, earning her a warning glare from the blue haired man.

“Don’t you dare.” He said. The woman just started laughing as the knight snatched the purse from David’s hands as if he was the one who’d stolen it.

“Didya hear that Frederick? He called me ma’am!” She said gleefully.

“Yes, I did. Isn’t that proper etiquette?” David asked quizzically. 

“Well...yeah.” The blue haired man said.

“Lady Lissa, Lord Chrom, you do realize this man has a Plegian cloak as well?” The Knight they called Frederick asked them.

“No, Frederick, I’m totally blind.” Lissa answered sarcastically, before turning back to David.

“Thank you for getting my coin purse back! I really appreciate it!” She told him sincerely.

Despite the day he was having up to that point, David felt the need to smile back as well. Her enthusiasm was infectious.

Chrom frowned at Frederick. 

“Are you really trying to say that this man was in league with the man who’s wrist he is currently squashing?” Chrom asked.

“I am merely saying that it is a possibility we should keep our eyes out for.” Frederick answered airily. It was Chrom’s turn to roll his eyes at the knight.

“What brings you out here?” Chrom asked.

David wondered how on earth he fought with that sword on his side with one sleeve on and none on the other side. Then he shook his head and forced himself to look at the man before him. 

“Well, I need a healer. My sister just collapsed just outside of town.” He admitted.

“Then we get to pay you back for your kindness,...?” Chrom said before trailing off.

“David.” He said, holding his hand out to shake Chroms.

“Nice to meet you, David.” Chrom said, before he allowed David to lead them back to the spot where he last left Naomi. She was still unconsious, but breathing. Her tome was pulsing softly. He didn’t know if it was because of what he said or if it was just doing that on it’s own, but he felt an itching down his spine that was new and unfamiliar to him before it faded away just as quickly as it came.

He walked as far away from the clearing as possible to give them all some space. He saw his sisters head pop up after awhile from afar, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, and allowed his shoulders to relax for the first time that day.

Chrom found him sometime after that as Lissa dismissed him.

“Naomi said you both lost your memory?” Chrom asked him.

David just nodded. He was too tired to explain that he could remember some things while Naomi’s seemed to be one complete blank.

“Well...if you’re both lost and alone, you could always come with us. That tome she has with her is no ordinary tome, and from that display in town, you’re no ordinary fighter. The Shepards could use people like you.” Chrom finished.

David thought about it for a minute, then looked around for Frederick, who was nowhere to be seen.

“I will accept, and I’m pretty sure Naomi will too, but just be sure to ask before we move out. Please.” David answered.

Chrom smiled at him and held out his hand again. David shook it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it. Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I do have regular updates for this planned, but I'm going to spend some time to make sure the other chapters are ready to go. As a result, I don't think the second chapter will be up until late December or early January at the earliest. If you want to find me before I continue this (and for updates) my writing tumblr is the same as my posting name (sacredsymbol821) as is my twitter (sacredsymbol821). There, you can also reach out to me and interact with me when I'm not writing, too! Finally, If I don't see you all before then, Happy Holidays, and I hope you look forward to the rest of this!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David gets to know Lissa better, and remembers that Naomi is recuperating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remembered to update on time- I didn't have time during the holidays, but more on that later- enjoy Chapter 2!

After the impromptu party had some rest, they all went into town to get some supplies. David had guessed correctly from the day before. They were not only royal, but Chrom and Lissa were the siblings of the Exalt of Ylisse. That didn’t matter to him, only that they had helped, no matter who they were. As they finished gathering supplies, the guy that David had stopped from going to steal Lissa’s purse came up behind them.

They managed to get away quickly, but David was pretty sure that he had broken the mans wrist in the process, and then were on the road.

It had been him and his sister for so long before that he wasn’t quite sure how to behave in the group at first, so he stayed a long ways away from everyone else when they rested and kept his eye on the road in front of him.

After the third stop of the day, which was due to Chrom fussing over Naomi like a mother hen- David went to his usual spot at the age of camp and was about to sit down when he heard Lissa’s voice behind him.

“Why are you staying away from the rest of us?” She demanded.

He sighed and was about to open his mouth when she continued talking.

“Because I don’t know you all that well, and I would like to! Besides, staying around staring at the trees can’t be good for you!” She said chipperly.

David narrowed his eyes at her. Surely she couldn’t be serious.

Suddenly, her face turned into a frown. 

“You know I’m right, David!” She told him. He shook his head.

“Well, you don’t have a choice!”

Before he could protest further, Lissa had taken his arm and marched him to the others.

Naomi was quietly munching on an apple she had found on one of the trees while Chrom was doing phantom training on a dummy near them.

Frederick was stoking the fire.

David looked back to see if he could dart back to where he was camping out, but had no such luck, as Lissa was staying right behind his shoulder as if she knew he was trying to bolt as soon as possible. 

Then he remembered what had happened to Naomi yesterday.

Immediately, he sat down next to her.

Lissa then went to the side of the fire Frederick was at.

“Hey, you okay?” He asked Naomi.

She continued chomping on the apple before swallowing.

“I still can’t remember much.” She admitted, before going back to chewing.

He sighed.

“Do you have any marks on you?”

She looked at him curiously, then looked at Frederick, who was still poking at the fire with the stick. He had been doing that for an absurdly long time. Noting this, David turned back to Naomi, who nodded.

“I’m glad you’re alright. What do you remember?” He said, putting his hands out to the fire so he could warm them. The sun was beginning to set, and it was starting to get cold because of it, as it was early autumn.

“My birthday is February 15th, and I’m older than you.” She told him evenly.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

“By two years, yeah.” He added, then got up from the log again.

“What about yours, David?” Lissa asked him.

“April 6th.” He answered her. Lissa’s eyes lit up when he told her that, and she clasped her hands together. “Mine is March 6th!” She grinned. 

Frederick finally finished poking at the fire and let the stick drop into it, holding one of his hands behind his back, probably because he had been leaning over for too long.

Chrom came jogging over, sweating profusely from his workout, and finally collapsed onto the log next to them. He opened one of the packs they had bought at the Port Town, picked out an orange and David watch him bite into an orange without peeling the skin off. 

He looked at Naomi, who blinked several times before turning back to him and tilting her head at him.

He reached into his pack and took out some almost stale bread from it before biting into it and chewing slowly. His stomach was gratefull for the food, but he had been eating nothing but rations for the past few days and was hungry for a stew or soup. He didn’t know if any game that was edible lived around here, and he was still too tired to ask. He’d ask in the morning. 

The sun set in the sky, and the party began to get their sleeping bags ready for the night. David and Lissa were set to take first watch, but before they did so, she asked if he could come with her into the forest to help her get some healing supplies.

The night was quiet, and David was thankful for the reprieve of Frederick pretending not to watch him heavily and yet still doing so.

“Is Frederick always like that?” David asked Lissa quietly as she picked some plants for some of her medicine.

“What do you mean, like that?” Lissa tilted her head at him. After a split second, she added,

“OHHHHHHHH.” Then, she shifted a bit on her log and looked up at him.

“Yes. Yes he is. He’ll get used to you, though! You guys don’t seem like you cause other people harm!” Lissa explained.

“He’s just a little overprotective of us, that’s all. It’s in his nature.” She finished, then went back to working.

David nodded his head. They had appeared out of nowhere, after all. He didn’t blame him for being cautious. He was barely sure of who he was, after all. He looked down at his armor.

He also looked the part of an assassin, if not a mysterious figure..

David sighed aloud, then was silent.

The wind blew suddenly. As it was dying down, David was very sure he was just imagining things when a flash of red emanated from deeper in the forest.

He thought he was seeing things, but Lissa turned around toward it too.

He went out first before her so that she could follow him, and gingerly walked toward the source of light. As they got closer, he started to hear growling noises, but they weren’t from any animal he’d heard before.

The hand that was on his dagger belt lifted it open as he walked.

They finally found the clearing that led to the source of light, and in it were monsters. David took a sharp step back in shock after seeing them because they looked almost human, but on closer inspection they had red glowing eyes and greyed out hallowed skin. He didn’t see where he was stepping, unfortunately, and he heard a twig snap underneath his foot as he accidentally stepped into Lissa, who yelped as well.

The monsters saw them.

“Go get the others.” David told her quickly, before drawing his daggers and turning toward them.

Unfortunately, he miscalculated how many of them they were, and four monsters approached him.

He was too quick for the first one, and managed to cleave it in two before they all had a chance to react. However, the shuffling demons immediately went on guard after that, and he couldn’t circle around them. He grimaced, and got ready for an onslaught of attacks. He dodged the first one easily, but ran straight into the second, and then the world went back as he heard Lissa yelling in the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will admit I didn't want to write a fight scene on chapter two because I am lazy. In future chapters, I promise I won't conveniently skip over combat if I feel it's important. Also, I had to research Lissa's birthday for that bit when they were talking about when they were born, and found there's a wiki I didn't know existed with just birthdays. I had a field day, I'm not gonna lie to you.  
> I still don't have a concrete posting schedule yet, but Sunday nights are your best bet- whether biweekly or weekly is something I'll have to figure out, with me going back to college and all. I'll give updates on when the next update should be more often on my tumblr, which you can find under the same name, and my twitter which is also under the same name, as well as any delays or whatnot. Next update should be in 2-3 weeks! I hope you had a good holiday season, and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David comes too, and wonders exactly what the heck happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On time with this update, so I'm happy about that! Will talk more in the end notes!

When he came too, the sky was still very red, and he could smell burning from somewhere. The smell made getting up urgent. He attempted to sit up, but Lissa didn’t allow him too, as she pressed his chest back down to the ground before he could make it off the ground.

“Take it easy, I don’t want you dying on us a day after we met you!” She told him. David nodded weakly, his senses still coming back to him. Lissa’s voice was very loud, and almost made his head spin.

“What happened?” He asked. His voice, even though it was coming out of his throat, was also too loud.

“Well, we came back here to see you knocked out against a tree and a guy named Marth protecting you!” Lissa answered.

At first, David thought his head injury was worse than he feared, even with how loud everything was.

“Did you just say Marth? Like the Hero King of Legend?” David asked her, mouth agape.

He couldn’t remember much, but he had heard the name around. Wherever he grew up in.

“Well, it was probably a different Marth. I don’t recall that Marth ever wearing a mask, but the Ylissean royal family did name like ten of their rulers after him.” Naomi said from beside Lissa. David looked at her.

“Oh. I didn’t know about that.” He admitted.

He was glad she didn’t seem worse for wear, but was a little concerned that she didn’t seem phased by the fact he was being attended to by a healer.

“You can sit up now! Also, don’t freak out, but we have two new additions to the party! Sully caught up with us, and so did some blue guy!” Lissa informed him.

He did as he was commanded, and his head did not appreciate it, as he got very dizzy when he sat up. 

“Okay, lean him against that tree, please.” She told Naomi, who did so. He barely heard it because of how dizzy he was.

“This may hurt a little, okay?” Lissa asked him.

He nodded weakly, then felt something snap together in the back of his skull, which hurt like someone had stabbed him for a few seconds before fading after he closed his eyes really hard.

He opened his eyes and looked at them both.

His head didn’t hurt to focus on them, which he was thankful for.

“How are you feeling?” Lissa asked him.

“Better. Thank you.” He smiled at her.

“Good. Now, you don’t do anything too strenuous or I will knock you in the head with this staff, got it?” Lissa asked.

“I promise I won’t do anything too strenuous.” He said, putting his hand over his heart.

“Good.” Lissa said, and turned away from them before flouncing away.

“Wait. What does anything ‘too strenuous’ mean?” He asked Naomi, who looked at him wide-eyed. 

Before she could think of an answer, Chrom walked up to them.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, bending down on his knees to look at David.

“I’m doing okay. Your sister is a great healer.”

Chrom smiled.

“She is. I’m glad you’re feeling better.” 

“Thanks, me too.” He grinned back.

“Do you know what attacked you?” Chrom asked.

“Yeah. They were horrifying.” David began, before a red haired put out looking knight and a blue haired smarmy looking archer came up to them.

“You the guy that knocked the hell out?” She asked.

David nodded.

“Don’t do that shit again.” She told him, and then turned away.

The archers eyes crinkled into a smile and he walked away without a word.

Naomi also smiled a little at the knight.

“Can we talk about this later? Can you walk with us to the Shepards Garrison?” Chrom asked.

David nodded again. He was doing a lot of that since he got up.

“I’ll get up on my own, you have stuff to attend to.” He told Chrom, who made a face like he didn’t want to attend to it but turned around anyway, putting the hand he was outstretching to David back at his side, and following the knight and the archer. He caught the names of the two new people- Sully was the knight, and Virion was the archer. He got up shortly after that, and followed the group further south.

The sun got higher in the sky as they walked along. He mostly kept to himself, as the troupe walked through the forest and into more plainsland. The blue mystery man was on his mind for a very long time, even as they progressed to a huge road.

He caught up with Lissa when everyone was resting for a moment, as he remembered a pressing question.

“Hey, Lissa… where did the blue mystery Marth come from?” David asked.

Lissa looked at him and blinked.

“The sky.” She said seriously and quietly.

If she hadn’t said that in that tone, David would have assumed she was joking, but she never smiled as she answered. 

He blinked at her and continued walking with the group, the sky suddenly holding his attention as he tried to find answers to questions that he didn’t have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was super short, and I apologize for the length, but I wasn't going to force something to be longer than it needed to be. I think the next two chapters make up for it though, and I think I'm going to start making updates faster... maybe to three times a month? It really depends on my classes. If you want the next chapter now, just let me know. Also I know it's really slow right now, I did that on purpose to ease into it. I hoped you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! If you want to leave a comment before you go, I'd really appreciate it, too!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the Shepards!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy I was able to post in February, you have no idea. More about that in the end notes though. It's another short one, so enjoy!

A week after the Risen Incident, they arrived at a small little fortress in an isolated location.

No fortress was ever homely, but this small building wasn’t intimidating to him, either.

Chrom ushered them inside, and only then did David realize it was the Shepards’ Garrison that Chrom had mentioned a few times before. 

He wondered how many troops Chrom had there.

He was surprised to see no soldiers- more accurately, no soldiers in uniform. 

The only people there were a rowdy blonde man with no shirt on, a tired looking woman with a pointy hat, a woman to the side who looked like she’d received a nasty bruise to the bridge of her nose, and a blond woman who looked like she would murder him if he got within a few feet of her.

The woman was the first person to spot the group.

“Lissa, my darling, you’re back!” She yelled, and ran over to Lissa, and hugged her so fiercely she almost knocked into Naomi who was standing next to her. 

David marveled at how fast that a woman in heels could move that fast as he watched.

“Hi, Maribelle! Thanks for teaching me that poultice trick, it really helped me heal a new friend!” Lissa greeted. David blinked when she called him a new friend. He’d known them for a week and a day at the most. He wouldn’t deny it if she asked, though. 

“A new friend?” Maribelle repeated, looking up at the group. When her gaze met Davids’, he could feel her eyes bore into his soul, and a chill went up his spine. 

“Where do you hail from, traveler?” She asked him.

“Maribelle, hold on a second-” Chrom began to say. She held up a finger to him, and he immediately stopped.

“I don’t remember.” David said honestly. That hadn’t come back to him just yet. He felt Naomi wince next to him. Even though he knew it was the wrong answer, this woman expected the truth and nothing but.

Maribelle opened her mouth and David bowed his head, expecting to be smited from existence with words, when Lissa interrupted her.

“Maribelle, they’re okay! He even saved me in the forest!” She told her.

Maribelle continued to stare at David, but her stare warmed up to him. Just a little, though. She didn’t want him to think she was done interrogating him, after all. 

“Um...Maribelle?” The younger woman with the nasty bruise on her nose said to her.

“Yes, Sumia?” She asked tiredly, finally turning her steely gaze from his.

“Chrom sent word ahead that we were having visitors. These are probably them.” Sumia said, ignoring the gaze of the group. With that sentence, she went over by the pots and nearly tripped on the floor by herself, but stumbled into a recovery.

“That would have been the fourth time today…” Maribelle muttered under her breath.

She turned back to the group.

“Well, the barbaric one over there is Vaike-” She said to them.

Vaike gave a two pronged salute and a “Hiya” before going back to intently staring at cards.

“And the one nose-deep in the book is Muriel.” Maribelle finished.

Muriel didn’t even greet them.

Chrom finally remembered that he was the one who brought them to the castle, and walked to stand over by Maribelle.

“We can get you two rooms set up, if you like?” He asked them.

“Right this minute?” Maribelle asked incredulously as if he said something offensive to her.

“Yes, right now. They’re part of the Shepards now, and besides, I need to see my sister. Their rooms should be done in a week I think?” Maribelle’s eyes widened in realization.

“Did you maybe send this in the letter Sumia mentioned?” Maribelle asked him.

“I did.” Chrom sighed, putting his hand on his temples.

“I’ll go start setting that up. Naga knows no one else will.” Maribelle answered him, and brushed by them in a huff.

David couldn’t help but suppress a smile.

They had breakfast there, then rested there for the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...college is definitely a thing, and the reason why this chapter was late. This time, the length is because it was originally part of the next chapter, but it didn't flow well, so I took them apart in the editing process. Because it was all technically one chapter, I'm going to edit the next one when I'm not being swamped with assignments so I we'll have two chapter updates for February.
> 
> As always, thank you for reading this far if you have and please leave feedback if you're liking it so far!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ylisstol can be a fun place, given the chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll talk later about how I cannot control myself or my love of tropes. Enjoy the chapter!

Through all of his childhood memories that he had back, David and Naomi had never seen a city as big as this. As soon as he saw it, David took a minute to admire it. The buildings were huge, and extended into houses as you approached Ylisstol. There were no gates around the outskirts of town, but alot of Ylissean soldiers- at least that’s what he assumed by the green patches on their shoulders and spears as they walked in.

No one noticed the gaggle of people walk into Ylisstol, and they were led by Chrom and Lissa into the marketplace.

There were so many people around, David didn’t know where to look. On his left, there was a leather stall, then there was a soup stall, then a stall that was selling something that looked like fruit, and then a blacksmith selling his wares.

“David, your neck is going to snap off.” Naomi warned him.

He stopped to look at her and frowned.

“It is not.” He pouted.

“You’re going to barrel into someone if you keep looking around like that.” She told him, still smiling at him. 

“I can handle myself, thank you.” He replied, still pouting.

She shook her head at him for a minute before she let out a laugh before walking forward, taking her place next to Chrom, Lissa, Frederick, and Maribelle.

He thought they were out of the marketplace when he smelled something that made his stomach growl hungrily. He looked over and saw a sweet stall.

The group walked ahead, but Sumia saw him eyeing the sweets. She smiled at him walking away from the group, but didn’t say a word.

David wasn’t paying attention. His stomach needed a cinnamon bun, and there were still some at the stall. His feet moved on their own, closer and closer to the stall- and suddenly he was on the floor with an orange rolling behind him. He scrambled to pick it up, his legs moving in a flurry, and managed to do so before turning back to the person that he hadn’t seen walking.

He almost dropped the orange in his hand as it was outstretched as he took in a sharp intake of breath.

The woman in front of him had red hair, red eyes, and looked a little put out but gods she was beautiful.

Now he was sure that he wasn’t fully recovered from his head injury and shook his head to focus. Then he remembered to stand up- he was holding the orange to her knee, which was probably why she looked so confused.

He was an idiot.

Carefully, he stood up and rubbed the orange, then held it out to her properly.

“Sorry about that. I haven’t had a proper treat in ages and I wasn’t looking.” He admitted, smiling nervously at her.

She smiled back at him.

“I’m just glad you’re all right, Mr.?” She asked.

“Oh, just David. No, I’m David. No, my name’s David.” He answered.

“Well, David, the next time you see a sweet stand, be sure to look where you’re going.” She said, and was beginning to walk away when his brain started working again.

“Wait! You never told me your name!” He said.

She looked back toward him.

“My name is Cordelia.” She told him, and then walked back down the marketplace, disappearing into the crowd.

David walked to the sweet stall and got that cinnamon bun he wanted so badly, before walking back to the group.

“David, are you alright?” Sumia asked him, causing him to nearly drop the cinnamon bun.

“You mean you saw that too?” He asked her. Sumia just nodded.

“I’m fine. She just startled me, is all.”

“She should be here instead of me.” Sumia admitted.

David took a bite out of his cinnamon bun.

“What do you mean?” 

Sure, Sumia looked a little soft but David had no doubt she could fight if she wanted too.

“Chrom asked Cordelia if she wanted to join the Shepards. She refused. She wanted to stay with the Royal Pegasus Knights here in Ylisstol.”

“Why?” David asked in between bites of cinnamon bun.

Sumia looked at him and thought for a minute, then shrugged.

“She thinks it’s harder training there than in the Shepards.” Sumia nodded to herself. David wasn’t sure she was telling the truth, but didn’t press the subject further. 

A silence fell between them for a moment. 

David looked at Sumia for a second.

“Hey, Sumia, do you like sweets?” He asked.

She looked at him quizzically, but intrigued. 

This time, he managed to go to the sweets stall without a hitch, and gave another cinnamon bun to Sumia, who accepted it quietly.

They walked to the castle in compatible silence after that, listening to the chatter of the city and their friends around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! First, the in fic things: I went a bit heavy handed with some of my favorite tropes in this chapter, and it's still shorter than I wanted it to be, but I like how this one turned out.
> 
> Now, to the non fic things: I know I said I was gonna shoot for the end of February to publish this, but then I had to deal with, in order: a test, homework, a paper, and more homework. As a result this got pushed back, but I am going to try for 3 updates to make up for the one I wasn't able to post in February (If my professors want to be merciful). As always, thanks for reading and continuing to read this fic. The next chapters should get interesting (and also longer) soon.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally time to meet the Exalt of Ylisse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Being on time? It's more likely than you think! Enjoy the chapter!

When everyone arrived at the castle, Frederick, David, Naomi, Chrom and Lissa were ushered into the throne room as quickly as they arrived.

The throne room was draped in green carpet, as David expected it to be, and the Ylissean Flag was displayed on the rafters above them. They didn’t even need to wait for anyone to come see them.

There was a taller blonde woman in a chair. Her hair looked just like Lissa’s, and she had the brand that Chrom had on his shoulder on her forehead. David knew she was Chrom and Lissa’s sister, but didn’t know her name.

There was another knight standing next to her in regal armor. She looked very put out by all the hub bub, but was still staring at them with more curiosity than Frederick had. They were conversing in hushed tones for awhile after they arrived.

David was beginning to put his hand under his armor expectantly when the Exalt finally turned her head from the conversation and the white haired woman stood up again.

“Welcome back, Chrom and Lissa. I see there are some new faces here.” The woman in the chair spoke and got up.

“Was your trip okay?” The woman with the gold armor spoke to them, speaking to Frederick specifically, before her red eyes turned and she continued staring at David.

He wished he knew why she was staring so intently at him, but turned his head back towards the Exalt.

“Well, while we were passing through a forest, we were attacked by…” Chrom trailed off and looked at David expectantly.

David took a deep breath in.

“They were nothing short of monsters, Your Grace.” He explained.

“We fought off a group of them just to get to the outskirts.” Chrom added.

The Exalt folded her hands and put them up to her face without saying a word. Then, she turned to the Knight next to her.

“Phila, have any of your troops seen this as well?”

“We’ve seen movement, my lady, but haven’t been close enough on our patrols to identify the source.” She answered firmly.

“This is… disconcerting.” She added after a pause, getting up from the throne and walking towards them.

“What do we do next, Your Grace?” Frederick asked.

“I feel that the arrival of these enemies means dark times are headed for Ylisse. We’ll need allies. Chrom, I hate to ask you this so soon after you arrived, but will you go to Regna Ferox for me?” 

Chrom didn’t even hesitate with his answer.

“Yes. But what about you? We can’t leave you unprotected, Em.” Chrom replied.

“I’ll stay, if you want me to. That way you can go to Regna Ferox. While I’m here, I can check in on how our rooms are progressing.” David supplied.

Chrom looked at him for a second, then nodded.

“We’ll leave in a few hours.” He told Em, who nodded.

“Emmeryn, are you sure that’s wise? He’s-” Phila interjected.

“A friend, or Chrom would not have brought him all this way here.” Emmeryn told Phila before walking out the throne room. Phila left, but not after glaring at David to make sure he got the message she was watching him. David sighed, but not before meeting back with the rest of the group.

“David, are you sure you’ll be alright by yourself? You don’t know if you’ve ever been in a castle before!” Lissa reminded him. Naomi closed her mouth but looked concerned. 

“I’m sure. Besides, it’ll give me a chance to get acclimated to the city.” He replied, before shoving past them and out the castle, and walking by the marketplace. As he was walking, he noticed a stall that hadn’t been there before. Suddenly, his head began to hurt, right between his eyes, and he looked away from it. The same power he had felt through his sisters tome began to flow through him again, which was odd.

His feet carried him down the street past the stall, and when he looked back, the stall was gone. He forgot about it as soon as he continued down the street full of vendors and shouting and went back towards the Shepards Garrison. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I've managed to write 6 chapters so far. I'd love to be posting more so that we can get going with what I messed with (I won't tell you exactly what, you'll have to wait and see) and get it more away from Awakening's beginning chapters, and I'm sorry for that, but there's one more update in the month (because this chapter is also short rip). After that, I think I'm going to slow updates to once a month until the semester ends because two a month is hard to juggle with coursework and all that jazz. As always, thanks for sticking around and thanks for reading! I appreciate you all!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When they said that midnights in Ylisse could get rowdy, they probably didn't mean this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just barely updated on time I know, but! This chapter is longer, so have fun with it!

After the ridiculous week and a half that David had, he was happy for the slight reprieve. His room in the Shepards Garrison was cozier than he had expected, and the protecting Emmeryn thing was easier when you had people to do it with. After a few days, it was like he had never woken up in that field with his sister.

Even Maribelle was warming up to him after their icy encounter.

They received a missive about a week and a half after Chrom and Naomi left telling them they had secured allies from Regna Ferox and were returning home within the week. That had been about three days ago.

David was busy playing cards with Vaike and not paying attention, causing Vaike to win all the treats they were betting for on the table. 

Maribelle was pacing, her heels tapping against the stone of the floor back and forth until David couldn’t take it anymore.

He finally cut his losses from the game and let Vaike take the plate of sweets before walking over to Maribelle.

“Is everything okay?” He whispered. He wasn’t sure why. They were the only ones in the room besides Vaike, who was too busy shoving sweets into his mouth to bother looking up at them. 

Maribelle looked at him.

“They should have arrived by now.” She told him.

“Yeah, I know. I’m sure they’ll come by at any moment victorious and rowdy.” He told her quietly.

As if on queue, there was clamor in the main hall. Maribelle looked at him again. There was a ghost of a smile to her face. 

“It seems you’re some sort of magician.” She said before walking to the main hall.

“I’m not a-” David said before sighing and following her.

There was a bigger group than had left, that was for sure, but not by much. Everyone looked unhurt, even Sumia.

Maribelle was busy fussing over Lissa and Chrom this time, so David sidestepped her and went straight to his sister, who was speaking to someone he didn’t know. He assumed he was speaking to the mystery man, anyway, as he had his back to her as he talked. It was an odd sight, and he looked at her quizzically as Naomi finished talking to him.

“...somehow, we got everything accomplished.” She finally finished, before turning to see David. She smiled.

“There you are!” She told him, and he grinned at her.

“You’ve been keeping well.” 

“Yes. Apparently I’m a very good tactician. At least that’s what Chrom and Lissa said.” She replied sheepishly.

“Who’s your friend?” David asked.

“Oh! Lon’qu, this is David. He’s my brother I was filling you in on just now.” Naomi said as if the man was listening to her. He still hadn’t turned around.

To David, she said,

“Don’t mind Lon’qu. He’s shy.” He thought she was finished with the sentence, but as she was walking by his ear, she added, “He’s afraid of women. And he doesn’t talk much but he seems like a nice guy. I’ll see you both at dinner, I’m starving!” She said that last sentence to both of them, but whispered the first two so only he could hear.

Lon’qu finally turned around and nodded to David, who nodded back. He didn’t miss the Killing Edge on his belt.

After all the chaos of introductions, Lissa went up to David as Chrom was talking to the Shepards.

“You missed Marth again.” She told him, smiling widely.

“You’re joking.” He shook his head.

“Wish I was. He’s like mystery man, especially to you.”

David sighed as Lissa walked away from him. He still hadn’t seen Marth in person yet. It was beginning to bug him, especially because the same guy appearing twice to the same people was way beyond coincidence.

He swept out of the Shepards Garrison and followed them to the Castle, which was heavily fortified in the morning, and not so much at night. 

When they finished reporting to Emmeryn, they came down the stairs.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“We finally get a day off.” Chrom told him, and passed by him quickly.

“Wait. Where’s Maribelle?” He remembered not seeing her since the Shepards Garrison, which was odd.

“Oh, her dad called her back to their estate for a few weeks.” Lissa told him. 

“Also, we’re staying in the Castle for a few days.” Naomi added.

David nodded, and followed them to the mess hall, where he ate dinner with them for the first time in awhile before finding his way to a random castle room and falling asleep.

He awoke, and something was off. The crickets were chirping, the castle was quiet and something wasn’t right. Then, suddenly, something told him to get out of bed. He did so like a bat was out of hell and ran down the steps. Everything was quiet in the castle, and he was considering going back inside to sleep when he heard a thump outside. 

He started running again, and nearly tripped over two very dead corpses in the garden.

A sword came flashing at him from the darkness,and his was out just as quickly to block it.

A blue haired woman stared at him from the end of her blade.

“Marth, Wait! That’s David, he’s with us.”

His heart was pounding in his chest and adrenaline was running through his veins, but not before he noticed a flicker of recognition flow through Marth’s eyes. The dim torchlight also revealed that in Marth’s left eye was something that looked like the Brand of the Exalt.

Marth saw that he was staring and immediately turned away from the torchlight so that David couldn’t confirm what it was.

“The Exalt is going to die tonight unless we don’t stop it.” She said firmly.

“How do you know this?” David asked.

“She just saved Chrom’s life.” Naomi explained. 

They had no choice but to trust her.

At that moment, there was a roar of alarm from another guard on patrol.

“Marth. Please aid us.” Chrom said to her.

She simply nodded.

There was no time to ask her what was in her eye, but it followed David as he retraced his steps back to Emmeryn. He took a defensive position around the left corner.

He heard both Chrom and Naomi barking out orders, and a whole lot of fighting by the Shepards.

He almost didn’t see the thief until it wouldn’t have been too late. Except, the thief had no daggers out.

“Listen, buddy, I’m not out here to start any problems. These guys paid me, but forgot to say they were going to kill the exalt. All I wanted was some cash, pal. I swear.” He told him.

“I want to believe you, but I’m not the guy that makes personnel decisions around here.” David said tiredly.

“Oh, crap. Does that mean you’re gonna stab me?”

“Does it look like I’m gonna stab you?” He asked indignantly.

“Well, you have your hand on your sword ready to stab me.” The orange haired thief pouted.

“Go to the blue guy.” David told him.

The thief rounded the corner. Then came back.

“You’re garbage at directions, guy. There are two blue guys! One’s guarding the front of the door! The other just stabbed a guy!” He told David. 

“Go to the one that just stabbed a guy! “The one with the shorter hair!” David hissed. This time, the thief didn’t come back.

After awhile, the fighting subsided.

No one looked happy to be out of bed, except the thief from earlier.

“Thanks for the tip, bud. I owe you a lollipop.” He told David.

“Sure. What’s your name?” He asked.

“Name’s Gaius.” He grinned.

“David.” He nodded at him, then turned back toward the group. 

“Plegian assassins.” Chrom explained tiredly.

“They also came with this.” Naomi said, holding up a letter to David’s face.

“What’s it say?” He asked her as he sat on the floor and put his head against a pillar. He was that tired again.

“A bunch of idle threats. I think. David, did you know their leader?” Naomi asked him, her helpful expression from earlier being replaced with a frown.

“I never saw him.”

“He acted like he knew me.” She said.

“I’m sure he did that to mess with you. Besides, he’s dead now.” David told her.

“You’re right.” She whispered like she didn’t believe him. David had never heard of someone coming from the dead, but didn’t push it. Instead, he forced himself into the best sitting up position he could stand.

“This just got worse than we thought.” Chrom interrupted, rounding the corner.

Beside him was a woman with rabbit ears. After tonight, David wasn’t surprised anymore.

“Maribelle’s carriage got to the south of Ylisse just fine, then they were attacked by Plegia.”

Two attacks in one night? David was extremely tired, but even he knew that wasn’t a coincidence. 

“Why do they want war now? It’s been 10 years since the last one.” He rubbed his temples as he spoke aloud. 

“That’s what makes it so odd, and scary.” Naomi added, returning to the conversation then after keeping to herself for a little while. 

“They said they’re holding her at the border. I think I’ll need to call on your assistance once again.” Chrom said to both of them.

David nodded, then looked at Chrom.

“Whatever happened to Marth?” He asked.

“Disappeared without a trace. She has a real knack for it, I’ll give her that. It’s still really infuriating, though.” Chrom answered him, putting his hand on his temple, as if to ward off a headache David guessed he already had.

“I didn’t even know she did it multiple times, so at least she’s consistent.” David joked.

Chrom and Naomi didn’t smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! Yes, I know I very conveniently no fight scenes again and I apologize for that but I did say that we are still in the early stages of this fic, and I'm doing light editing for grammar and only adding when needed because they seem to hold up really well. 
> 
> I was inspired a little bit by the Cousland Origin in Dragon Age Origins when David woke up like that but was trying not to make it too obvious. 
> 
> The next update should be sometime in April! I know I said I was doing one update a month until the end of the semester, but we have a late spring break, so I'm going to try to update twice! I will see you all in early April with the next one, and keep following my twitter under my posting name for bad memes and updates on when I'm going to post next!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the assassination attempt on the Exalt's life leads everyone to the border of Ylisse and Plegia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to edit this chapter because it was too short and didn't flow well. I didn't touch it after a certain point because I wasn't about to rewrite it. Enjoy it, as always!

Despite all the fighting during the night before, David thought he wasn’t going to get any more sleep. He spent the next few hours with Naomi, sitting in the hallway where the throne room was, his hand never leaving his sword hilt as Naomi watched her book intently. 

His eyes were beginning to burn as the sun came up. Slowly, he turned to look at his sister. She was barely awake, nodding off at the same page in her book and not reading the sentence she was on.

“If both of you tell me you haven’t slept, I will be very angry.” Chrom’s voice came from behind them.

David jumped so far into the air that he heard his sword that he had pulled out haphazardly at the first sound clatter against the stone.

When he looked up at the prince, he noticed that he didn’t look like he had slept, either, if the bags under his eyes were any indication.

“You’re one to talk.” He replied lightly, pressing his fingers into his eyes so they would stop burning for a few seconds.

Chrom frowned at him, but didn’t say another word as he sat beside them.

“I have no idea who Marth is.” He admitted.

“If it wasn’t for...her… Emmeryn would probably be dead.” Naomi also admitted, talking mostly into David’s shoulder.

Even though he was tired, he remembered the girl’s eye, and looked up towards the ceiling. It could have been a trick of the light.

Then he remembered that same brand was on Chrom’s shoulder- it was right in his face.

“Hey, Chrom, what is that?” He asked, pointing towards it.

Before Chrom could answer, there was a commotion at the end of the hallway, and David went scrambling for his sword again.

This time, it was just Frederick.

Frederick looked like he had slept, or was some sort of demigod. 

He looked at the three of them for a moment, his gaze sweeping over them as he took in every detail of their appearance “The three of you should try and get some rest. I’ve tripled the guard for the night.” He told them.

“But, Frederick-” Naomi began to say.

“The army’s tactician needs to be at her best, especially for the days ahead.” Frederick said.

Chrom sighed.

“Frederick’s right, though I don’t like it one bit.” He finished before standing and walking down the hallway without another word.

That was enough to scatter them, though Naomi was too tired to stand on her own.

She and David both walked away from Frederick, leaning on each other before they got to the hallway where their rooms were.

“Think you can get inside alone?” He asked her.

She nodded.

“Okay.” He answered, before going to his bed. 

He was so tired, he did not even remember closing his eyes.

When he awoke, it was to Chrom knocking on his door.

David opened it.

“We need to get to the Plegian border.” Chrom told him.

“It’s urgent?” David noted.

Chrom simply nodded, and swept down the hallway.

David got himself ready, and was ready to march by the afternoon.

Soon, all of their friends had congregated and started marching to the Ylissean and Plegian border. David wasn’t expecting Emmeryn to come with them. She did. 

That’s when he realized something was very wrong, but he didn’t voice it out loud.

The walk took about two days on the main road, and when they arrived at the border, two people were waiting for them. One of them, a white haired woman, had this ever present smirk that David did not like, but he shrugged it off quickly. He wanted to know what was going on.

The King of Plegia’s name was Gangrel. He was a rail thin man with that same smirk that sent a chill up David’s back, causing him to grit his teeth. 

“Gangrel. Why do you threaten the peace between us?” Emmeryn asked.

Even while yelling, she somehow managed to retain her serenity.

“You can blame that on the pretty little miss over there.” Gangrel cocked his head, and David was surprised to see Maribelle, who was struggling against her binds.

“What do you accuse her of?” Chrom yelled.

“Some guards passed through the town was in and she attacked them without warning. We want Ylisse to answer for these crimes.” The white haired woman answered smoothly. 

David glared at her.

She saw him and turned her smug smirk down at him.

“I did no such thing! They attacked the village first and when I went to call for help they kidnapped me then blamed it on me!” Maribelle yelled down.

“We think for the reparations she did to Plegian land the Fire Emblem would be a fair exchange, yes?” Gangrel pressed on, totally ignoring Maribelle’s outburst.

“Absolutely not!” Chrom said.

At the mention of Fire Emblem, David’s head began to feel like it was splitting open again and he dropped his gaze from the white haired woman to stare at the ground.

“Here I was hoping we’d be able to solve this peacefully. Attack!” Gangrel cried gleefully. David sighed and took out his sword as everything swam together in his head, the pain fading into his head as he was attacked by three Plegian soldiers.

He had been trying to save Maribelle, but he saw that she was suddenly unbound, and then he had to focus on himself and the men attacking him.

They were all so busy trying to intimidate him, they never saw him outstep all of them, and his three attackers were down before they could even get their first strike in. 

He managed to drag some wounded Ylisseans back to safety before heading to where the rest of the fighting was. At some point, Gangrel had retreated.

“We need to tell Ylisse that we’re at war.” Chrom said somberly to the army. No one said a word.

After that, they continued trudging up the mountain pass. Because they were at war, they were going straight to the heart of the enemy with their leader in between them for safety.

Not one soldier dared to speak as they kept walking for what seemed like hours.

During their first rest stop, Maribelle found David.

“I wanted to thank you.” She told him.

He looked up at her.

“What do you mean?”

“You couldn’t realize it at the time, of course, but you gave Ricken the opening he needed to come save me.” Maribelle told him.

“I’m glad he did.” David said. Then everything was silent again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said I was only posting once in April? I forgot I had spring break soon, thankfully, so I'll be able to do two updates this April, and the next Chapter is the one I've been looking forward to writing for many reasons, but I'll let you see why when I update again during spring break. I'd give a hint, but I'm terrible at hints.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have fun with this one. By fun I mean. It's darker than most of the others to date. Oh! There's a blood warning for this chapter, but nothing too explicit that would warrant a rating change yet, I think.

After the notices went out, and an especially bloody fight, Emmeryn decided to go back to Ylisstol. 

Chrom wasn’t happy with that decision, and tried to talk her out of it, but the Exalt’s mind couldn’t be changed, even though the Ylissean army, was, by all accounts, losing, and losing badly.

When David had time to think, he wondered if the old Exalt had brought this upon his children, and that some unholy retribution was being brought upon both Chrom and Lissa for something they weren’t responsible for.

He could see it in how heavy Chrom’s load seemed lately, but never had the time to discuss it with him as much as he would have liked to because he had his own duties to attend to. He did them without complaint, as Naomi needed all the Shepherds to do their duties on time or as close as they could get to it with the war going on.

After Emmeryn went back to Ylisstol, he hoped that the war would end, and he would get a chance to breathe.

He had no such luck.

They almost didn’t see the Risen attack the camp while camped near the border of Plegia and Ylisse until they were right on top of them, and David ended up having to drag Gaius out from a pile of boulders that had fallen from the top of the mountain.

“Thanks.” Gaius told him.

David gave him a quick nod, before moving forward.

He was grateful he had saved him, and the other Shepherds clapped him on the back, but he considered the victory hollow.

They marched along the border, hearing more and more concerning reports of the encroaching Plegians while being powerless to help the Exalt because of how far away she was.

Along with that, there was countless battles.

Fight after fight, time after time, people died. That was war. 

In another mountain pass close to Plegia, they were ambushed. While fighting for their lives again, a rider came out of nowhere near the cliffs they were fighting. The winged enemies were nearly too much for David. People on the ground he was used to fighting, but those who flew in the sky he had never dealt with before. He was fighting with one hand on a freshly opened wound when he heard another pair of wings among the din of the screeches and leathery wings in front of him. He managed to wriggle his way under one of the wyverns and sent the beast and his rider plummeting to his death. There was water on his face as he looked up at the sky and after more screaming and cries of death, there was silence again. 

This was all he’d ever known, he realized as he looked up at the sky and drops of water fell on his face. 

Fighting to stay alive, even if it meant killing who knows how much to get it. It had come so naturally to him, he hadn’t realized he had done it before he lost his memory. He did it so his family could survive. He didn’t know much else besides hunting, weapon smithing, and fighting for his life.

He blinked again and turned his head to the sudden wet footsteps that were coming his way- they’re were two of them.

Chrom was coming toward him, despondent, and behind him was the Pegasus Rider he’d bumped to in Ylisstol. 

Cordelia. That was her name. He was glad to see any familiar face after what he’d been through the past couple of days, but she didn’t look very happy at the moment. Despite being next to Chrom she looked lost and alone.

“We weren’t fast enough.” Chrom told him through gritted teeth.

David’s heart sank.

“What do you mean?”

Cordelia turned toward him.

“The Plegians...broke through the border into Ylisstol and captured the Exalt.” Cordelia told him.

It was about the worst news that he could hear. The Plegians would not be gentle with Ylisseans. The crimes the former Exalt had committed against them had sealed their fate. It wasn’t fair.

“There needs to be something we can do!” David said to Chrom.

“There is.”

If David hadn’t been sore everywhere, he would have jumped.

He turned around, and looked towards the voice when he saw Naomi looking at them.

“We need to go after her.” She said, looking directly at Chrom.

David went to open his mouth about how that wasn’t the best idea, then looked down and remembered he was bleeding a little bit heavily. He could come back to find out what that was about later, when he wasn’t in so much pain.

David turned away, and began moving back to the healers slowly.

Cordelia moved with him stiffly.

“I am. So tired of this.” He said out loud.

“So am I. Very much so.” She answered.

He nodded to her.

“Are you….staying?” He asked tiredly.

“I have nowhere else to go.” She admitted.

“I’m sorry.”

“You can be sorry when you’re not bleeding out.” She told him, before veering out to the left and away from him.

The rain continued to fall on the ground where they stood, and it had washed his blood away almost as soon as it had dropped there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, after Nine Chapter she is finally here, and I am excited. Unfortunately, though, May is finals month which means if I do post, it won't be until late May when classes are over and I get some rest. 
> 
> In the meantime, though, I'll actually be writing more of the story. I can't tell you where I'm at right now (because spoilers) but I promise you it's going to be good.
> 
> This chapter was a bit on the shorter side, and I apologize for that.
> 
> I have been spelling Shepherds wrong the entire dang time. I apologize for this, but after playing Mass Effect, my brain took Shepard and Shepherds and mixed them together to create the dreaded Sheperds. I'll go back and fix the previous chapters at a later date so that I can live my life in peace and happiness.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading! Also, since I'm posting this on Easter, happy Easter and Passover to all who celebrate either of those holidays!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of calm before the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a month but I did not forget to post. More at the end, enjoy the chapter!!!

Even though Ylisse was in the middle of a war, and now had to save the Exalt, all the soldiers in camp were given a day off. For Naomi, that meant it was planning their next move, and David had just finished making sure she was eating and taking care of herself- much to her chagrin- when he stepped outside. His sword arm was sore from how much he used it lately, and he was happy to give it a rest. He roamed aimlessly around camp for a little while until he walked into Sumia and Cordelia’s path. Sumia gave him a wave, then continued jabbering Cordelia’s ear off.

David allowed a small smile to escape his lips.

“Oh! Wait here, Cordelia!” Sumia told her, before turning to David.

“Are you going to be eating with us tonight?” She asked David.

He blinked at her many times, his brain trying to process what she said.

“With who?” He said slowly.

“The Shepherds!” She exclaimed.

“Don’t I… always?” He tilted his head in confusion at her. He wasn’t one for actually mingling with the Shepherds just yet. He liked Chrom, but he was always busy doing one thing or another since he was Prince, Lissa played too many pranks to be trustworthy out of battle, and Frederick was Frederick, still watching him in between his many duties somehow.

“Yes, but since we’re not fighting for right now, we wanted to do something different. Like cards!” She looked at him expectantly.

As much as he gotten to know these people, David wasn’t one for socializing usually. He was always on the outskirts with Muriel just watching everyone have fun. However, he couldn’t say no to Sumia, who he had become fast friends with.

“I could use the break. I’ll go.” He promised.

Sumia clapped her hands together.

“Very good! We’ll see you there!” She called over her shoulder as she led a protesting Cordelia away. 

David spent the rest of the day doing various chores, but taking it easy on his sore right arm. After he finished sharpening his sword, he realized that it was sunset and he should get dinner.

He made his way down the windy path to the mess hall.

There were a lot of people there. All the tables had been set up in a circular fashion. Almost everyone was there, except Chrom, Naomi, and Maribelle. He looked around for an open seat. All he could find was next to Vaike, so he sat there. 

For the first time in about a week, he felt like he could relax, and his shoulders relaxed against the chair after a while there.

Soon, Lon’qu brought up card games, and then Vaike was yelling about them in his ear faster than he would have liked. 

David shook his head at Vaike’s wilder antics and remembered to move his chair down a little bit when his ear began to hurt. After what felt like hours, David excused himself and left the mess hall.

The night sky twinkled above at him, and he aimlessly wandered for awhile. The spot the army was camped in had no trees impeding the view of the stars for once, and he was grateful for that. They weren’t exactly on Plegian soil. Still though, the stars looked like they had when he was a kid, and his shadow parents were speaking to him again, though he couldn’t hear what they were saying or why they were saying it, but it was nice to be thinking about them again, even if he couldn’t actually hear or see them. 

Footsteps behind him snapped him out of it, and he turned around to see Cordelia. 

“You’re out here, too. Shouldn’t you be at the mess hall?” She asked him stiffly.

“I wasn’t in the mood to mingle.” He answered, biting back a smart retort about why she wanted to know, and looking back at the stars. 

“...Oh.” She answered.

He wanted to ask why she was out here, but he was tired from all the fighting still. He was used to awkward silences, usually he thrived on them, but right now he was very aware of it and felt the need to say something to fill the silence with. He was very aware that she was still next to him, and at that moment, he remembered something she said from the day before.

“Wait. Cordelia. Yesterday, just after the battle you said you had nowhere else to go. What did you mean by that?” He asked.

She didn’t even turn around to look at him when suddenly Sumia had found both of them.

“There you two are! You do know the mess hall isn’t this way, right?” She asked both of them.

“I didn’t know you were even in the mess hall!” David protested.

He hadn’t seen her over the hubub of Vaike’s antics and everyone else laughing.

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Sumia said.

“Where were you sitting, David?” Cordelia asked suddenly.

“Right next to Vaike.” He said.

“That’s why he didn’t see us. Vaike kept waving his arms like a madman all night. Anyway! The both of you are coming right back to the mess hall with me right this instant!” Sumia said. David knew he didn’t have a choice in the matter, but he was trying to think of excuses he could use to get out of it, but then Sumia locked his arm with hers in a vice like grip and that was the end of that protest in his head.

From the gasp on the other side of her, he assumed she did the same thing to Cordelia. 

“I said I’d go back there’s no need for this. Sumia, please!” He pleaded with her to try and still get out of it, knowing it was futile to resist. As he did so her grip tightened on his arm.

On the other side, he could see Cordelia just put her head on the ground and allowed herself to be dragged toward the mess hall. He wouldn’t admit it later on to anyone- especially Sumia, but he did have a good time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, you'd thought you'd seen the last of me! No, I survived finals (somehow) and am able to post again! We'll be heading back to two updates in May or June- getting another one may be crunchy for this month, but I promise regular updates will be back for the summer! 
> 
> A bit about these next chapters- I had to change them because I was following the plot of arc 1 in Awakening so much(because I forgot how it went until I went back and replayed it). I feel like I need to cut some out because of this, and if I do, I'll still post them because I'm terribly vain and I like them.
> 
> As always, you can follow me on twitter for the latest updates @sacredsymbol821 and if you want to see me yell about various video games and cry about FE every once in a while. Thanks for reading and I'll see you again soon!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blowing off some steam by hitting dummies, or how to get your healers enraged: An anecdote.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For every spar, there is one healer waiting to yell at you. Or multiple.

They had a few more days off before the army began to come alive again, and soon, David was getting restless. There was only so much sharpening of his sword he could do before he was going to explode, especially with the situation they were in, so David went to the sparring grounds. 

A shirtless Lon’qu was there practicing on a dummy in the morning sunlight. There was no one else there except for the sullen swordsman and Vaike.

Vaike never got up this early to spar unless he was trying to prove a point to someone. David came up to the dummy next to them and tuned them out. In battle, you couldn’t listen to what was going on around you except for the people you were fighting or you would die. This dummy had been beaten to a pulp- whoever had used it before him had taken out a lot of aggression on it. 

David decided that was its weak point and took one swing at it. He missed by a mile. The point he had been trying to hit was it’s forehead, and instead, he had hit it in the shoulder, an easily blockable attack.

David sucked his teeth and tried again, this time not letting the sword slip out of his hand. 

He hit where he was supposed to, and stuffing flew out of the dummy as he removed his sword from it. 

That felt good, but it wasn’t until he had worked up a sweat that he sat back and admired his handiwork. Satisfied, he went to sit down on the nearest bench he could find. The sparring area was beginning to fill up with people.

He put his sword on his side and went to get some water before coming back.

Vaike and Lon’qu had actually started sparring this time, and people were gathered around them in a circle. They had swapped out their metal weapons for wooden.

Vaike may have been strong, but Lon’qu was the Champion in Ferox for many years, and his experience was making him glide around Vaike. When Vaike went down, David wasn’t surprised. Nor was he surprised when Vaike immediately popped up and demanded a rematch.

“No! You need a healer first!” Lissa protested, and David watched as she dragged Vaike out the circle of people by his ear with a few cuts and bruises on his face, arms, and chest.

He moved out of the way to give Lissa room, quietly sidestepping Lissa, who was terrifying when she was angry.

She didn’t even see him as she dragged Vaike down the hill and out.

David had caught his breath by then and looked at the sword on his hip. He was tempted to ask Lon’qu for a match, but the taller man seemed to be leaving suddenly.

David turned his head to see why and saw Naomi coming up the hill with her sword, talking to Chrom. That can’t have been the reason that Lon’qu was leaving. Except it was. 

He sat heavily back on the bench as Lon’qu ran off the sparring field as if someone was chasing him. He wondered if Naomi and Chrom were going to spar with each other, but they walked away from each other.

“Hey Chrom! If you don’t want to spar with me I have another solution!” Naomi said. 

“You do?” Chrom asked, taking a few more practice swings at the dummy that David had been using earlier. 

“Yes! Spar with David!” Naomi said.

David blinked. 

She hadn’t even asked him.

“Would you be alright with that, David?” Chrom asked him.

“Yeah.” David nodded, and wiped off dust from his pants before rolling up his sleeves to his elbows. 

He much preferred live sparring practices with that of against dummies anyway, but he didn’t say that out loud. Despite knowing Chrom for so long, he had only seen him fight a few times, so he was the closest thing to a complete unknown that David had sparred with.

He took his stance across from the Prince of Ylisse and took a deep breath in. Then a deep breath out. He repeated the process a few times to calm himself. He was getting a little jittery thinking about fighting with Chrom, and even though he was supposed to not let the crowd get to them there were alot of people around them and that was making him even more anxious, as he could feel their eyes on them both. 

Still, though, you didn’t back down from a spar invitation with the Prince of Ylisse especially at the last second. Someone- he didn’t look up to see who- called for the match to start.

He and Chrom began to circle each other. 

He kept waiting for Chrom to strike. He waited for awhile. 

Chrom finally had enough and struck first. The speed with which he struck was faster than David anticipated but the blow was strong enough that David had to grip his practice sword or it would have fallen out of his hand. 

He took a big step back. Another few hits like that and his sword would break. He gave it a quick once over, and noticed a scrape in the blade that hadn’t been there a minute ago. He put the sword back down and took another deep breath in. This one wasn’t to distract himself from the voices around him, but to put him back on the task at hand.

He stepped back into the ring and got back into his stance.

Chrom went right this time. David deftly went left and hit him in the left arm, causing Chrom to wince. 

He popped back up. Chrom was strong, so David couldn’t overpower him. He needed to be agile to have a chance at winning the spar.

Chrom came back again and swung at him. David guessed the wrong way to move, and got clipped by Chroms sword. It felt like a little sting across his forearm of his blade hand and he grimaced, but finished the roll and went for Chrom’s legs.

Chrom saw it happening a split second before he finished trying to cripple him, and so David ended up accidentally slightly tripping Chrom, just enough to lose his balance. Unfortunately, David also lost his balance, and he ended up on top of Chrom before rolling off of him quickly and offering him his hand with the blade down, away from the Prince. 

Chrom took his hand and rolled back up.

“Okay, I’m gonna call it there.” Naomi said behind them. Her brow was furrowed.

“Too much?” David asked.

“Yes, way too much.” Naomi nodded.

“What in the name of Naga was that horrendous display?” Maribelle came up behind them.

Chrom looked at her and opened his mouth to say something, remembered Falchion was in his hand and put it away before turning to Maribelle.

“What do you mean?” He asked her cooly, inching in front of David.

“You two were fighting like animals!” Maribelle clarified.

David blinked, fought back a smart retort about how fighting wasn’t elegant or neat, and quietly stepped out of the way as he hightailed it to Naomi.

They both walked down the hill quickly as Maribelle and Chrom started to argue. Above them, Cordelia had been watching the whole spar on the edge of her pegasus. After they finished, she turned around and continued her patrol. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thats the chapter! There's not much I have to say about this one (for once) so I'll let you go. All I remember about writing this chapter was that it was the first time I actually attempted to write combat. I like to think that I got better as it wore on. Thanks for reading as always, and if you like it, leave a comment if you want! Next update: mid-late June!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heading through the mountains towards Plegia, David realizes that it gets cold there.

They were heading up through the mountains towards Plegia. David always found it cold up here, but this morning, he was extremely cold. His arms had goosebumps on them, even though his shirt sleeves were rolled all the way up to his wrist, and he could see his breath as he walked.

He was beginning to hold his arms under his shirt when they stopped for a moment. Sumia descended from the sky and quickly got off her pegasus.

“David? Are you freezing?” She asked him.

“F-freezing?” He asked, his teeth chattering together as he tried to form a sentence. Sumia started at him as if he’d grown three heads.

“David… you do know it’s cold up here this time of year, right?”

David shook his head. He didn’t trust himself to speak.

Sumia frowned.

Cordelia came up behind them at that moment.

“Is everything okay over here?” She asked.

“David’s freezing.” Sumia told her.

Cordelia took one long look at him, up and down really fast before realizing the problem.

“David… do you happen to own a coat?”

David blinked at her many times.

“Uh-n-no. You don’t need one when you live in a d-desert.” David answered her.

Cordelia looked at Sumia exasperatedly before looking back towards David.

“It’s not like we can break off from the army to find a coat but he needs one before he gets hypothermia, or gives the rest of the army a cold.” She said to the both of them. David nodded, barely hearing what she was saying. He was so cold, he could barely think. He wanted to be back on warm sand. Or near a fire. Or anywhere he could see himself being warm.

“Wait! I have an idea!” Sumia said, and stumbled back to her pegasus.

She shuffled around the back of her pegasus for awhile, then came back and almost tripped over a rock. However, in her hands, was some type of fabric that he had never seen before. She presented it to him.

“Put it on!” She told him chipperly.

Desperate for any sort of warmth, he put on the fabric. It was a cloak, he realized, just made with thicker leather and fur on the hood. Carefully, he put the hood over his head and wasn’t able to see anything for a moment. 

There was a chorus of giggles in front of him. One laugh was Sumia’s which meant the unknown laugh had to be Cordelia’s. He hadn’t heard her laugh before, and it was odd and good to know she was able to laugh all at once.

He started to laugh to.

“I can’t look that bad!” He protested to the direction he thought they were in.

“You don’t!” Sumia said in between breaths.

“You look like a little kid, is all. It’s cute.” Cordelia added.

When she called him cute, his stomach did this funny flip, but he thought nothing of it because he was laughing along with them.

“How do I control this thing? I’d like to be able to see again.” He replied.

“Oh, right. You just use this.” Sumia said, and pulled something. He was able to see them again.

All three of them were still smiling. 

The cold air around them got colder somehow as they continued to walk side by side. Suddenly, at the front of the marching line, they heard a big old whoop from Vaike and some other excited murmuring. David didn’t understand what all the hubub was about. Then, something cold and wet landed on his nose. Immediately, he wiped it off, and saw water on his hand.

“What the-” He exclaimed.

Cordelia and Sumia both looked at him, then looked up.

“It’s...snowing.” Cordelia commented.

He looked up this time. 

Sure enough, there was a lot of white stuff falling, and it seemed to have gotten warmer and yet colder at the same time. Even though the army was marching, the air around them had gone still and quiet. 

It almost put David on edge. Silence in the Desert where he grew up meant the weather was about to get bad fast- but here, he saw Cordelia and Sumia look up in the sky for a moment before turning back to what was in front of them.

“David, are you doing okay back there?” Cordelia asked.

He was busy looking up in the sky.

There were so many of the white things falling from the sky. How did they get there? How were they coming down to his feet? Why were they so many of them?

“You’ve never seen snow before?” Cordelia asked, walking back towards him.

He smiled, not quite aware she was there. 

“No, I haven’t. It’s beautiful.” He said out loud.

She came to stand by his shoulder.

“It is. Some say you can leave your cares and sorrows out here in the snow.” Cordelia said softly.

“Do you believe that?” He asked her, looking at her seriously.

“They aren’t all gone. However, looking out right now, it’s hard to believe that they won’t heal, with time.” She answered, then looked at him.

“But enough of my rambling.” 

“We need to make sure you don’t turn into a popsicle.” She added after a moment.

Then, she smiled at him.

He blinked at her and smiled back without even thinking about it.

“Come on you two!” Sumia said, and they followed her.

The snow slowly covered their footsteps until it looked like they were never there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try and update regularly next month, but if that second update isn't out before July 26th, don't expect another one. I'll be devoting all of my attention to Fire Emblem Three Houses, since I've been looking forward to that for awhile. I'm only saying this now because I will not be on Social Media until I finish the game after the first July update, and I will probably be posting about delays in the days leading up to the game releasing.
> 
> As always, thank you for all the hits, comments and kudos! Your feedback really means a lot to me!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When your tactician isn't resting, you must make sure they aren't overworking herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I start pushing my agenda.

The marching compared to the day before was dead silent as the realization set in on the army that they were on their way to recapture the Exalt. Even as they came down from the mountains and the air got warmer and David could take off the fur cloak finally, which he was grateful for, no one laughed or smiled.

That’s what happened when your leader was taken away in a war, he guessed. He also had nowhere to put the cumbersome coat. He sighed, but continued trudging along with the army. They marched non stop for what felt like hours and they wound back around into Ylisse, and the terrain became more flat and a little warmer, though when it got windy one could feel a chill in the air signifying that winter was coming. 

Even though the army was somber, someone started up a conversation when they got bored finally as the sun went down, and soon, people began to whisper in private conversations as well. 

They finally set up camp as the sun went down, since many were getting tired and their legs were sore, even if they wouldn’t admit it.

After a few hours rest, David got out of his tent to go patrolling. His sister’s tent was in the front of camp, way away from the mess hall where some noise was coming through showing that people weren’t dead yet.

There was a light coming from her tent the first time David passed by it.

The first round of his patrol went smoothly.

The second time he went around, he saw the light was still on, and there were two people inside the tent.

This happened for around two hours, and he saw people going to bed for the next days march when he was finally relieved of his post. As soon as he was, David walked toward the tent light.

“Can I come in?” He asked quietly, so as not to disturb his sister.

Naomi poked her head out the tent.

“Sure. Cordelia and I were just having a conversation about recent events.” Naomi said.

He hadn’t seen or recognized that the other shadow was Cordelia. He bit his lip, and that uncomfortable feeling he had been feeling lately started in his stomach again, but he had already asked to come in, so he went inside the tent and nodded at Cordelia before sitting on Naomi’s other side.

“How are you holding up?” He asked his sister.

She sighed at him.

“I’ve been working on two hours sleep.” She held up a hand to David when he was about to express his concern about that.

“My own decision, not Chroms.” She explained, then put her hand down to signify he could talk.

David blinked.

“That doesn’t make not sleeping any better.” He muttered.

“I’m not saying it does, but… I just can’t leave Chrom like this.” She admitted.

He frowned then.

“You’re not helping anyone by getting so little sleep.” He said after a long pause.

“Especially Chrom. I know he’s done alot for us, but I don’t think he’d appreciate us losing sleep because of him.” He added, before finally going silent.

She stared at him for awhile before nodding silently, and turned back to Cordelia.

Who he had forgotten was there.

She had been sitting and watching them talk for awhile, and now they both looked to her now. She was frowning, but not unkindly. Her red eyes were there, and it was if she wanted to say something, but was debating it.

“Cordelia? Do you have anything to add?” Naomi asked.

Her eyes went from Naomi to his eyes. That funny feeling he was getting in his stomach started again, and he couldn’t help but notice how the lantern light danced in her eyes.

“I agree with David.” She said softly.

It was almost like she had surprised herself with that statement, and she took a moment to register what she had just said, but then her stoic mask was back just as quickly as she regained her composure.

“You are our tactician, after all. Having you fall from fatigue would be bad for the army, not just you. Also,” Her eyes flicked over to David quickly before flicking back to Naomi, “David would probably be sad if you died, especially from fatigue.”

“I doubt it. He rarely talks to me anymore.” Naomi said lightly.

David rolled his eyes.

“Someone decided to get us involved with the Sheperds, and it wasn’t me.” He shot back in the same tone of voice.

“You’re the one who shook with Chrom.” She reminded him.

“Second.” He smiled at her.

“You’re insufferable, little brother.” She finished.

“Unfortunately for you, you’re stuck with me.” He answered back, beginning to smile wider at her.

She was about to retort when her eyes widened suddenly. 

“You’re a genius.” She said to him as if he’d just invented something by accident. 

“Now I’m really concerned.” He replied. Cordelia winced at the word genius when it was said, but then looked at David.

“What did you do?” She asked him, a twinkle coming back into her eyes again.

“I honestly have no idea.” He replied, stupified.

“If we separate out, and then come back in… we have a chance at this.” Naomi said aloud.

“I need to tell Chrom this. What time is it?”

“Late.” David replied.

“Everyone’s asleep, Naomi.” Cordelia added. 

“But.” Naomi began.

David and Cordelia both looked at each other.

“How about this. You write down whatever plan’s in that head of yours, and then tell Chrom about it in the morning. After you get at least six hours of sleep.” David finished. 

Naomi frowned at him.

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” She asked.

“No. I care about you too much.” He nodded to himself.

“Fine. You’d better remember to take your own advice, or I will find you and make you. Both of you.” She added at the last second, looking to Cordelia, who looked straight at her and nodded. 

After a few seconds of silence, she sighed. 

“Well, I suppose the both of you should get out of here before people get ideas of… whatever it is you two do.”

Naomi looked between the two of them and then smiled happily as they got up and started to leave.

“Goodnight!” She said chipperly and closed the tent flap, but not before David caught a smirk on her face. 

He was left standing outside of the tent with Cordelia right next to him.

“Why do I get the feeling that she knows something we don’t?” He asked her.

“Because she’s the tactician, and we’re not?” Cordelia supplied. 

He chuckled.

“That is true.” He held out his arm to her.

“I should probably get you back to your tent in one piece. I have a feeling that she’d kill me if I didn’t.” He joked.

“Such chivalry.” Cordelia commented dryly, and took his arm before they began walking together.

When it came time to say goodnight, David realized there was a little part of him that didn’t want to. He said goodnight to her anyway, of course, but as he was walking back to his tent, he realized that his heart was hurting again. He was getting really sick and tired of this random pains he was getting, and he promised himself he’d pay a visit to the healers tent in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, I had a bit of writers block lately, so that's why this is so late. We still have some time before FETH comes out, so I will be getting a second update out before then unless something goes terribly wrong. I doubt I'll be posting in August, as not only is FETH going to be out, but my birthday is happening as well as going back to college, so it's going to be a busy month. As always, thanks for writing and commenting, I appreciate all the feedback I've received so far and am very glad you're all enjoying this!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The weather starts to get hotter, and the army continues to march to their destination.

David woke up the next morning and the first thing he did was get to his feet and start packing up his tent. When he had done that, he walked to Naomi’s tent. Sure enough, she had gotten some sleep like she promised him. 

“Are you coming to see if I slept?” She asked knowingly. He shook his head, then stopped. 

“That, and I was wondering if you wanted to march together today.” 

“I know you were busy, David- I’m sorry if you feel obligated to march with me because of the comment I made last night.” She told him sincerely. 

“No, you were right. Besides, I’m not mad.” He promised.

“That’s what you say now. Later today, I’m going to find a frog down my back.” Naomi replied as she finished getting her tent together.

“I’m not Lissa.” He replied. 

She shot him a look before walking ahead. 

They walked for awhile, however, it was definitely getting warmer. As the sun came up even higher in the sky, most of the army began taking off little things, like gloves and helmets, which went into their packs. As the day wore on, they realized they weren’t going to beat the heat, and resigned themselves to their fate.

David welcomed the heat. After the mountain pass they had been in, it was like coming home. When he took off the long sleeve shirt he had on, he felt the heat of the desert hit him. Naomi had even shed her coat and held it in her hands.

The army halted to a stop finally and were allowed time to rest since it was so hot out.

“Hey David. What do you think will happen to us after the war?” Naomi asked as she drank from her waterskin.

He blinked, then looked at her. Then he looked up. Sumia’s pegasus was in the sky. It wasn’t the one he wanted to see, but it still made him smile.

“I honestly don’t know. I’d still like to know why we both woke up with very little memory in that field, and find our parents, but that’s a miracle dream if there is one.” He admitted.

“What else besides that?” She pressed.

He shrugged.

“Maybe get married? Settle down? Who knows honestly.” 

Naomi’s eyes flickered for a moment as if she had found something she wanted to hear.

“Anyone in mind?” She asked a little too casually.

He narrowed his eyes at her.

“Right now?” He asked, knowing full well that this was trying to get information out of him.

“Yes, right now.” Naomi answered, crossing her arms.

“No one.” He lied.

“David…” She sighed.

“You’re either lying to me or lying to yourself, or both.” She finished, then walked off in the other direction.

Despite his misgivings toward the situation, he followed her.

“I’m not lying!” He lied. He looked up in the sky again. Sumia’s pegasus was still above them. 

“Yet you still keep looking up, David.” She said and shook her head before smiling sadly.

His head hurt. His heart hurt. Everything started to hurt, but not. His mind reached out for anything that would make his body stop hurting suddenly. All his brain came up with was Cordelia’s face. That made him stop hurting, but then his heart started hurting more.

“We’re in the middle of a war. Even if we could deal with her situation, now isn’t the time.” He finally said. Each word felt like he was spitting venom or some curse from an old ancient time.

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too.” He answered.

Naomi went up to him and hugged him quickly before walking towards Chrom. David stayed there for a very long time before he began walking. He needed to blow of steam, and to do so now meant taking his sword and hitting something with it.

The army decided to camp shortly after. 

The damage he did to his training dummy was nothing short of excessive, but he finished his assault on the defenseless dummy without a word. When he finally remembered to breath and put his sword down, he saw Vaike staring at him.

“What’s gotten into you?” 

David didn’t answer him and looked around. Many of the other Ylisseans were struggling with their stances in the sand. 

This wasn’t good. 

Even Cordelia was struggling in the sand, and her footing was some of the best the army had.

He went instinctually up to her, ignoring his brain replaying the conversation he had with Naomi, who he was sure was wrong and that the heat had gotten to his brain faster than normal.

“Having a hard time?” He asked her to announce his presence.

“Yes.” She spat at the dummy in front of her like it was it’s fault that she suddenly was whiffing at everything. 

“Well. You want to spread your feet less apart. It helps keep your stance compact.” He told her.

“How do you know- you’re Plegian.” She remembered, giving him a sideways glance before doing as he suggested.

“Like that. Everything needs to be more compact or you will throw your weapon into the sun or trip, fall and die.” He finished lightly. 

She nodded, concentrating on the dummy in front of her, and struck the dummy. 

“Better?” He asked.

“Much.” She nodded.

After she finished training, she walked with him to the main part of camp. The sun was finally setting, and a chill came into the air. 

“You lived in Plegia during your childhood?” Cordelia asked.

He nodded.

“Do you remember anything about it?”

He took a moment to recall back. 

“Well, we never stayed in one place for too long. Since the last Exalt called his purge of Plegia, my parents were always moving us around. He wasn’t known to spare anyone- even children. As a result, we were dirt poor. My father taught me to hunt at an early age. Despite all the moving in the early part of childhood about ten years ago all the Ylisseans stopped and went back to Ylisse.” He finished.

“David, that’s horrible!”

“It’s not so bad. We stayed together, as a family. I always wanted to know why the Exalt hated Plegians so much though. Since Chrom didn’t know his father so well, I doubt I’ll ever get that answer.” He mused. He turned to her.

“What was your childhood like?” He asked.

She sighed.

“My parents died when I was young. The previous Exalt killed them in one of those raids you alluded too. I had no one else to stay with, so I was given to an orphanage. I left when I was twelve to join the pegasus knights.” She hesitated for a moment.

“They died sacrificing themselves for me so that I could warn the Shepards.” She muttered taking the javelin and staring at it.

His heart hurt for her.

“No child should have to go through that.” He said softly. 

“Thank you. Yours was no walk in the park, either.” She smiled sadly at him.

A silence descended over them for a minute.

“Well, unfortunately for you, you’re stuck with me, now.” She added. 

“What do you mean?” He asked, picking his head up from the ground he was looking at. 

“I mean that we’re friends now, David.” She shook his head at him now.

“Seriously?” He grinned. He was genuinely happy to hear those words, even if the little voice at the back of his head was disappointed she said that. 

She nodded.

“Great! Just so you know, I can be more annoying than Lissa.” He joked.

They both heard a squawk of dismay behind them. Lissa had heard him.

“David, you are actually the worst!” She yelled at him, before storming off.

“I’m going to pay for that later.”

Cordelia nodded somberly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate to leave this here for now, but I will be back in a month or two! If you want to stay updated, follow me on twitter or tumblr (my name is exactly the same on both sites. I am more active on tumblr, though.) As usual, thanks for reading and giving feedback!


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